Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing (28 page)

But until then she needed to forget about her own issues and focus on helping Mary Theresa. The doorbell rang, and she knew it had to be Stephanie, Jennifer, and hopefully their mom. She opened the door to find Marco.

“Hey. I brought the girls.”

Before Scarlet had a chance to respond, Stephanie and Jennifer raced up the Cotorros’ wavy concrete walkway and busted through the front door, elbowing each other, as if to win a race to hug Scarlet first.

“Happy New Year! It feels like ages since we saw you. You look great—back to your fabulous self!” Stephanie said, hugging
her sewing teacher tight before removing her pink Japanese souvenir jacket and hanging it on a steel coatrack. “Look—I made a new shirtdress, no pattern!”

Scarlet spun her around, checked the seam and waistband, and held up an “OK” sign. “You’re a natural, doll!”

Jennifer rolled her eyes at her giddy sibling and wandered into Mary Theresa’s home, stopping to inspect every open doorway. Marco held up his keys to signal good-bye. “I’ll see you ladies back at the shop.”

Stephanie leaned in and whispered to Scarlet. “Something’s up with him; every time we mentioned your name in the car, he changed the subject to something stupid. You guys did it, didn’t you? You went all the way. I know that kind of tension—you should have stayed friends. Sex ruins everything.”

Scarlet recoiled in shock. “Aren’t you still in high school?” she asked over her shoulder as she slipped into Stephanie’s souvenir jacket and followed Marco outside.

“Chick flicks!” Jennifer shouted.

Scarlet kicked off her cherry stilettos and raced barefooted past Marco to his gold Pathfinder parked in front of Mary Theresa’s house. Her teeth chattered from sprinting across the chilly winter lawn. “Can we talk?” Scarlet asked, trying to catch her breath. Mary Theresa sure had a big front lawn. “Where have you been? I miss you. Did I do something wrong?”

He walked around and opened the door for her to get in his car. “Come on, get in. I’ll turn the heater on.”

Scarlet scooted down the upholstered seat and kissed him, but he just sort of nudged into her.

“Well, that was a like a flat tire,” she said. “What’s up?”

He rubbed his fingers up and down his Levi’s and gazed out the windshield. “I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things.”

Oh, God, he was going to break up with her already. Years of
being innocuous acquaintances singed after a week and a half of steamy romance. But he seemed to enjoy it as much as she did. Had going from zero to sixty made him uneasy? Could he read her mind to know she wanted him as a permanent fixture in her life, and had that freaked him out? She gulped. When she and Cruz had sat in his vehicle having the same type of discussion, she had felt relieved. But now, quite the opposite.

“What kind of things?” she asked.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say…. I bumped into your dad at Copper Star Coffee the other day at lunch.”

“Oh, no,” Scarlet said. “This can’t be good.”

“Your family was really hurt that you didn’t come over for Christmas or New Year’s. He said your mom cried all day. You used to take your nana shopping every weekend; your dad said you haven’t gone over there in weeks. And you haven’t returned his calls.”

Scarlet shrugged. “I don’t know what to say to them after what happened at the hospital.”

“When I first met you, all you talked about was your family and your nana. Once I got to know you, you made them seem like they didn’t want anything to do with you. Scarlet, they are worried about you. They want to help you. Ever since this whole Johnny Scissors thing, you’ve cut them off.”

“They cut
me
off.”

Marco raised his voice a notch out of frustration. “Sometimes love isn’t about blindly agreeing, Scarlet. When they offer ideas, they aren’t discounting you, they’re trying to help. They see you worshipping Daisy above all of them, even over your nana, and they’re hurt—jealous, even. Your dad is reaching out, but you won’t give him a chance.”

“I love them too, but I don’t have time to deal with it right now. You know what I’m up against these days. I’ll settle up
with them soon and everything will be fine. That’s how it goes with my parents. We argue, we cool off, all is well.”

“Not buying it. You’ve lost sight of why you started that website in the first place. And when was the last time you even sewed anything?”

“This is why you’ve been avoiding me all of a sudden, because I haven’t been sewing?”

“All of it. I needed to step away in order to look at the big picture.”

“And now that you let it out, do you feel better?”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll feel better if you rethink the Johnny Scissors thing.”

Scarlet cocked her head back. “Are you kidding? Oh my God, you guys act like I’m going to Afghanistan. It’s a short-term fashion program in the Garment District of Manhattan!”

He turned to face her and slouched in his seat. “Everything has been working against it. You’re forcing your will. I’m telling you because… I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m trying to protect you. Rosa was right. I see it now. You’re letting Daisy de la Flora and Johnny Scissors get in the way of what really matters.”

Scarlet glanced down at the black rubber floor mats and sucked on her bottom lip to let his words marinate in her head. “My dad brainwashed you.”

“Scarlet…,” he moaned, tapping the back of his head against the window. “You’re such a pill. Stop and listen to me, OK? They love you and want to be a part of your life but don’t know how, so they try to lure you into theirs. That’s why they push the engineering thing. You have to find the happy medium before it’s too late.”

“Before I follow through with my fashion career, become a success, and prove them wrong?”

“All I know is, if only my folks had been like that with my brother, he would be behind that record counter with Nadine, not me. You’ve never lost someone, so you don’t understand. It’s like going through life carrying your roots over your shoulder, searching and hoping and wondering if you’ll ever find a place to anchor them into the ground. I thought I found that place with you, until…”

“Let me deal with my family in my own way, please. And I’m sorry about what happened to your family—you know I am. But—I’m not your brother. I’m not calling you in the middle of the night to come rescue me. I have everything under control.”

“I did rescue you. Without my brother’s record store, you wouldn’t have had a place to run your sewing class.”

Scarlet began to breathe faster. This was the price for taking his free offer of the room. “I would have had that class anyway, at my house or somewhere else. I wouldn’t have given up. Besides, a lot of good it did; I only had five students. That’s enough to cover my meals for a week.”

“You sure aren’t like my brother. Michael would have never sold out his friends like you did. I can’t believe you went through with it.”

Rubbing her temples in disbelief Scarlet tried one of Mary Theresa’s tricks and counted to three in her mind. “Went through with what?”

“I know about
Fashion Faire Weekly
. They called the shop yesterday afternoon looking for you to fact-check the article. You actually sold out Rosa for your tuition money.”

“I didn’t sell them anything! I told you I had a weak moment the day I quit Carly’s. I called Nexa, but it only took a second to come to my senses. I passed on her offer. She’s been hounding me ever since. She nailed down my parents’ house and Carly’s and I guess the record store too. I finally volunteered to fact-check
Daisy’s career timeline, but only to make sure they had it right. And I did it for free. You know I love Rosa, how could you even think—”

“I didn’t know what to think,” he said, flicking his hands in the air. “Every time I hear you mention Johnny Scissors or New York, I have the same feeling in my gut as I did the night my brother called me. I couldn’t prevent what happened to him, but I can with you. I just wish you would trust me on this.”

Scarlet took his hands, lifted them to her lips, and began to kiss them. She closed her eyes and held them to her cheek. “I’m going to be all right.” She lowered his hands and took a deep breath. “You see my challenges as bad signs from the universe. I see them as opportunities. If it hadn’t been for Carly canceling my class, I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”

Marco pulled his hands back into his lap and shook his head, unconvinced. “You’re sacrificing too much for this. Something’s not right.”

Now Scarlet became agitated. She thought Marco knew her better and began to second-guess her relationship with him. Maybe they were opposites after all. Two single people who came together during a lonely, stressful holiday season. Nothing more.

“You’re asking me to give up when you’ve never even tried to do something for yourself,” she said coldly. “At the hospital, you agreed with me that I shouldn’t live for my parents, yet you live your life for your brother. You think he is proud of you? I doubt it. You’re chained there, lonely, playing Michael’s favorite music day after day. There is no love or cariños within those walls. Michael is probably sitting up in heaven, holding his drumsticks, screaming for you to follow your own life plan. If he hadn’t died, what would you be doing with your life? He worked his ass off to open that store because he loved music the
same way I love sewing. Michael gave it his all. The same way Daisy did. You need to stop using us as an excuse to put off your own life.”

Marco started the engine and clenched the top of the steering wheel. “You’d better go,” he said. “Here come Jennifer and Stephanie.”

Scarlet reached over to kiss him, but he turned his head. She bowed her head and chipped at the pale pink polish on her pinkie. “You need a break, don’t you?”

“Yeah, that would be best for both of us. Call me when you get back from New York.”

*   *   *

“Now,
this
is what I call a meal!” Olivia said with wholehearted approval after her first taste of Scarlet’s red chili flautas and Spanish rice. “OK, missy, if you ever decide you don’t like fashion design, cooking is your next calling!”

Stephanie, Jennifer, Rocky, and Lucy, all with their mouths full, raised their forks in agreement. Mary Theresa even felt better. She didn’t want to eat any food, in order to protect her sensitive stomach, but she sat by and admired the packed table of smiling faces. Her sewing buddies had whisked through her abode like a professional cleaning crew and didn’t stop until it could pass for a model home.

Around nine p.m., Mary Theresa tucked the kids into bed and read them a story while Scarlet and her team cleaned up the kitchen. Once the crew had settled down after their long day, Olivia removed a sweet surprise from the refrigerator. A tall red velvet cake that she and Missy had baked. As soon as the ladies spotted it, they scrambled to the dining table for a seat.

“I miss Rosa,” Mary Theresa said. “It’s just not the same without her. I can’t believe she left without saying good-bye.”

“Have faith in her; she’ll be back,” Olivia said, passing out small paper cake plates and plastic spoons. “That flu had been messing with her. I bet she went someplace relaxing to get some rest.”

“I hope so,” Scarlet said, cutting a hunk of the cake and dropping it onto her plate. “Mary Theresa, will you do me a favor tomorrow?” she asked cautiously. “Will you come clean with your family about you and Hadley? Unleash the truth, no matter what they think.”

Jennifer slapped her hand on the heavy table. “Amen to that. John 8:32—the truth shall set you free! Heh, heh, I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Mary Theresa pushed her chair away from the table. “Oh, noooo, I can’t. That’s impossible; please don’t apply this kind of pressure after the morning I’ve been through. You don’t know our families.”

“Oh, please,” Scarlet argued. “All our families have unrealistic expectations of us. No matter how hard we try, we can never please them. The least we can do is be honest with them.”

“She’s right,” Olivia said. “When I left my husband, it was hard to tell my sister. I hid our problems for years. She fought me at first, but then she saw the light. My light. And now? She is still around. He isn’t.”

“You have it all wrong.” Mary Theresa laughed nervously. “The reason we’re keeping it a secret is because the separation is temporary. We’ll be back to normal soon enough.”

Olivia laughed. “Did he say he was comin’ back? Did you ask?”

“He said he needed a break until after the New Year,” Mary Theresa replied. “He’ll be back.”

“You need to fess up to your folks for the sake of your kids,” Jennifer said, picking the lint from her baseball cap. “You’re
setting a bad example by teaching them to lie to their grandparents. Next time, they’ll lie to you.”

Stephanie cut a thin slice of cake and ate it with her hands and glanced at Jennifer. “We know, trust us.”

“Don’t be afraid,” Olivia said to Mary Theresa. “We’ll all be here if anything gets weird. We’ll come up with hand signals for you to give us in case you need a bailout. You know, like wipe your eye if you want someone to change the subject. We got your back.”

Mary Theresa cocked her head to the side and knew her friends were correct. She couldn’t go on with the lie any longer. “OK. You’re all right. Tomorrow, I’ll tell them. I have to.”